A Youthful Frame of Mind

News from the Rod Library Youth Collection

September 2012

  • Good Conversations
  • Displays
  • Something About the Author
  • Coretta Scott King Awards
  • Win a copy of Underground by Shane Evans!
  • Keeping Up with the Joneses
  • What the Dots Mean
  • The Short Bus

Good Conversations

Students have been asked before to look at the Good Conversations videos. These videos are short interviews with authors and illustrators of youth titles. The Youth Collection had a short list of authors and illustrators on VHS. We are happy to report that we have made those videos MUCH more accessible for everyone. Now, you can access the videos online! You can watch them from your apartment, dorm, or in the library. Providing this resource online also means that you have access to ALL of the authors and illustrators instead of just a few. Need to use this resource or just curious about it?? Follow the steps below to access Good Conversations online:

  • Do a keyword OR title search for "good conversations" in the online catalog
  • Click on the link for goodconversations.com (this will take you to the video site)
  • Scroll down until you get to the "Good Conversation!" sidebar, on the right hand side
  • Click on "more" (this will display all available authors and illustrators)
  • Click on the pic of the author or illustrator that you would like to view
  • Choose bandwidth (either yellow or blue will work in Rod Library)
  • Click play!

Try it out and let us know what you think of this new electronic resource!

Something About the Author-Online

Something About the Author is a useful resource that provides biographical information about youth authors and illustrators. This is an awesome resource for any student, any grade, any age. It is now available online. To access this resource simply follow the steps below:

  • Do a keyword or title search for something about the author in the online catalog.
  • Click on the electronic resource link.
  • Click on the link "Connect to Something About the Author." This will direct you to the resource.
  • Type in the author or illustrator you are looking for into the search box.

The Coretta Scott King Awards

The Coretta Scott King Award is an American Library Association media award that is given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators. The award commemorates and honors both Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King. It is administered by the Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) of the American Library Association. Click on this CSK link to learn more about these amazing award titles.

Win a Copy of Shane Evans' Underground

Underground (2011) is Shane Evans' award-winning depiction of a group of slaves running for freedom. The double-page, multi-media spreads contain one sentence. No sentence is over 4 words long which aids in the depiction of the urgency of the moment and the intense fear that this group must feel. Teaching younger children about American slavery is a hard task, but these short well-chosen sentences make this historical picture book much more accessible to a younger crowd while maintaining its sophistication and narrative movement. Anyone, any age, will understand the need to be free: the cold, the hunger, and the fear while getting there, and--finally--the light that is felt on that bright day when freedom is attained.

What a great book to add to your personal collection! Simply stop by the Youth Collection and drop your name in the green, drawing bucket. And, don't forget to pick up a free CSK Book Awards Bookmark! See? Everybody is a winner! The winner of the book, however, will be selected on October 1, 2012. All UNI Students, Faculty, and Staff are eligible to win. We'll be sure to let you know who our book winner is!!!

And, don't worry....If you don't win this time, we have a few more great book give-a-ways coming up!

Keeping Up with the Joneses.......So to Speak

Faculty members, don't forget that we offer specialized library instructions for your classes. If you want your students to know about the newest historical fiction, science fiction, nonfiction, etc., let me know. I'll be happy to do a booktalk just for your class! I work extra hard to read hundreds of books each year so that I can answer your students' questions and yours! Schedule a time by emailing or giving me a call. 3-6166

What the Dots Mean.....

Many of you have noticed that there are dot stickers on some of our books. These dots are to help you find leveled readers when you are browsing the shelves. Neon green stickers are on our leveled readers that are located on the picture book shelves. The neon orange stickers are on hi/lo books that are published by Orca Publishers. These books are on the full length fiction shelving. Many of the Orca books are at a 3rd-4th grade reading level but are meant for older students who might be struggling with reading but want to read high interest, more mature books. The authors are all well known faves. And, these titles rock!

The Short Bus

"The Educators for Change Book Club" will be reading The Short Bus by Jonathan Mooney this semester. The library will have copies available on the Nooks as well as in hard copy. If you want more information about the book club just follow this link. Happy Reading!